Money, Development, and Future Features

ch816772

C
Posted to reddit/r/EliteDangerous, hoping to get more responses here.

I wanted to pose a question to the community, what do you expect post release of version 1.0?
I have been lurking on the elite reddit and official forums and notice a common sentiment in many of the posts about where the player base sees the games completeness. I think my views were best summed up by the linked post "rose tinted glasses (forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=85805&highlight=rose+tinted+glasses[2] ).
I'm a business person not a game dev, but both world are ruled by money (love it or hate it). Regardless of what you think of E:D (I personally love it) I think its fair to say we all are hoping more features/fixes are implemented and the sooner the better. So here is my question. Who is paying for the development now?
Kickstarter is a great tool for getting large projects some upfront capital. Regardless of your view on the current completeness of E:D, releasing version 1.0 means one thing for sure. That is, Frontier is saying it has met all obligations of its SOFT contract in the kick starter fund raiser. This includes a budget for ongoing tech support, servers, bug crushing, and future feature development.
Other titles, especially in the MMO genre, have a subscription service which provides them with a continuous stream of income for these post-release expenses. So where will Frontier get this money from? Developers need to be paid and its hard to justify spending money on a title that have been fully released to share holders (Frontier is publicly traded now).
I would suggest to the community a hard decision is at our feet. Do you encourage Frontier to elicit more funds from its costumers through expansions (read subscriptions), OR do you accept what is delivered and limit your costs. Also tied to this are expectations, do you feel like Frontier delivered the goods as advertised and should you invest more for a better experience?
I for one am happy to pay subscriptions fees if they lead to continuously developed content which meet the standards set by other MMO's, but I am only one.
TL;DR - E:D has more work to be done post release, who is going to pay for this work and would you consider a subscription service?
 

CMDR Saunders

C
It's a fair point. A bit like the whole dayz thing. At some point, the money stops rolling in and you have to gauge profit vs costs of keeping the game running... what is acceptable profit? I'm sure they have the money to fix the bugs and pump out some content.... BUT, the amount of content will depend on their money market scheme; buy paint and decor, and stuff like that.

Hope it works, cause this game has the potential to go nuclear.
 

Bingo Brewster

Bingo Brewster
There are more threads on this than you shake a stick at. We dont need another one. Its been done to death already since the Kickstarter.
 

Marsman

Banned
Marsman
wil pay for planet expansion in dec 2015 is that not enough? it is a game that is bought and it is yet incomplete on basic features, first make it complete before no more $, simple.

developer are funny releasing unfinished products and gamers accepting this modus operandi are the cause.

They are on the stock market for gods sake use your investor money they want to make profits, so go spend THEIR money first
 
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DirkLarien

DirkLarien
Most baffling thing is this:
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=76535

That's a lot of money to just give away.
I don't want any of that.
I want them to use the money to develop the game.
Yes it is a publicity stunt, that could attract some new players.

But come one.... combined its almost 50 k in pounds!
That will buy you a nice big house in reasonable location. (at least in my country)
 

sohara

sohara
DirkLarien said:
But come one.... combined its almost 50 k in pounds!
That will buy you a nice big house in reasonable location. (at least in my country)
Click to expand...

Its nowhere near £50k, its a maximum of £13k.

I too have wondered how future development will be funded - I have come to the conclusion that Braben is happy to funnel profits from other developments into this title.

The store needs much more items in it to be successful. Personally, I think they should adopt the same model as Planetside 2 and allow people to purchase items using real funds. Most weapons are considered side-grades anyway, so just remember that before you scream 'pay to win, rawwwr, at me.

I would more than happily spend a fair few quid each month purchasing items if I knew it would support the development of the game.
 

Rockett

R
mkten said:
Its nowhere near £50k, its a maximum of £13k.

I too have wondered how future development will be funded - I have come to the conclusion that Braben is happy to funnel profits from other developments into this title.

The store needs much more items in it to be successful. Personally, I think they should adopt the same model as Planetside 2 and allow people to purchase items using real funds. Most weapons are considered side-grades anyway, so just remember that before you scream 'pay to win, rawwwr, at me.

I would more than happily spend a fair few quid each month purchasing items if I knew it would support the development of the game.
Click to expand...

Agree with that. The PS2 shop is pretty well done IMO.

Unless of course... you happen to be NC or TR... in which case I can only wish you fiery laser death! pew pew!
 
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